Big Men Up Front New Big Men on Campus

Ask anybody to name the six starting offensive linemen on the Harvard football team and chances are you’d probably get blank stares even from the Crimson faithful. While senior quarterback Chris Pizzotti and junior wide receiver Matt Luft may be the big men on campus, it’s really junior left tackle James Williams, senior left guard Tom Rodger, junior center Alex Spisak, senior right guard Zach Copple, senior right tackle Ryan Pilconis, and senior tight end Andy Miller who are the true unsung heroes for the Crimson.

“They’re simply the heart and soul of our football team,” said junior running back Cheng Ho. “Whatever we do offensively strongly correlates with their performance.”

While the O-line may not be the guys in the end zone or in the highlight reels, they’re the ones who work behind the scenes, setting blocks, opening holes, reacting to blitzes, and picking up linebackers. Every move they make, whether it may be a pancake block or a missed assignment, affects the outcome of each play. In essence, they’re the guys who make Harvard’s high-powered offensive attack possible.

Indeed, the Crimson veteran offensive line did just that this past weekend in Harvard’s impressive 27-13 victory over Lafayette. Harvard gained a total of 491 yards on offense and averaged a remarkable 5.7 yards a play against a Leopards defense that led the nation in scoring defense coming into the game.

Harvard gained victory with balance, passing for 231 yards and rushing for 188 more. The Crimson finally found the running game they had been looking for all season, receiving a strong performance from Ho. The junior back regained last season’s form by rushing for 108 yards, including a 51 yard dash in the fourth quarter. Even the lesser-mobile Pizzotti got in on the action, running through wide holes created by the offensive line.

“Going into this past week, the coaches challenged the offense to run the ball effectively,” Ho said. “Running the ball is something we haven’t been able to do consistently in the past two weeks.”

Last weekend, the offensive line answered the call.

“Today was their present,” Pizzotti added.

Harvard came out of the gates rolling against Lafayette, scoring 24 of its 27 points in the first half. Great pocket protection from the line allowed Pizzotti to complete passes like a 67 yard bomb to sophomore wideout Chris Lorditch early in the second quarter.

Pizzotti credited this recent success to his offensive line.

“The offensive line did an unbelievable job; they don’t get enough credit ever,” Pizzotti said.

In fact, the starting linemen for the Crimson have only given up one sack so far this year on 117 total pass attempts.

“Today we had one sack, which was my fault because I held onto the ball too long,” Pizzotti added. “So those guys opened up holes and protected them and did a great job.”

But the success did not come overnight. The line spent the entire off-season and summer working out, conditioning, and training for the upcoming season. All the while, they continued to build chemistry.

An extremely close-knit group, the line often enjoy pre-game meals together, a tradition tailback Ho tried to get in on.

“I’ve tried so many times to get an invitation to that, but I’m always excluded,” Ho said jokingly.

As the Crimson look forward to Ivy League play this week against Cornell, it will be up to the offensive line to continue their dominance up front. And though their strong play may not be immediately recognized by the fans, the players around them certainly know just how valuable of an asset the linemen are.